Nursery and Main Culture Conditions for Mass Cultivation of the Brown Alga, Ecklonia cava Kjellman

The mass cultivation of Ecklonia cava Kjellman was studied as a potential biomass source for the extract industry in Korea. Experiments were conducted to investigate the optimal conditions for artificial seed production and mass cultivation of this species. Maximum growth and young thalli development in the nursery culture area occurred at 2 m depth, whereas maximum growth of thalli in the main culture area occurred at 1 m depth. Production of E. cava was between 2.6 and 3.6 kg wet wt. m⁻¹ after depth control and removal of fouling organism, etc. The relationship between optimal water depth for culture and underwater irradiance during the E. cava cultivation was calculated as: y = -0.718x + 8.042 ( r² =0.976). The growth rates achieved in this trial indicate that E. cava cultures could produce and supply sufficient biomass.